Lifelines
by azngrrlstine
Summary: POST HP&HBP.Harry stands looking at the aftermath of Voldemort's defeat. HPSS possible friendship. nonslash ONESHOT. COMPLETE.


Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JKRowling. She is a genius.

POST- HP&HBP

Summary: Just a look into the aftermath. There really is no major plot here or anything. Just a random ONE-SHOT. Enjoy.

A/N: tenses might be a bit off, and the POV changes a bit here and there near the end. Sorry. I hope no one gets too confused… )

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_**Summer has come and passed  
The innocent can never last  
wake me up when September ends**_

Voldemort. _He's gone. He's really.. truly.. dead._ And with that last word, Harry was startled out of his thoughts. He couldn't believe that after a year of looking for Hocruxes and destroying each of them, one by one regardless of the pain it brought on… he still managed to defeat the dark wizard.

He surveyed the battlefield. There were Aurors- of course, the ones that were still alive- looking through the rubble from the ruins of the castle for survivors. For anyone who had even a mere pulse. But even with just a sweeping glance over the field, Harry knew that there wouldn't be too many people who could live and tell the tale of the war.

_How will we be able to rejoice the death of one Dark Wizard when so many of the Light have died at the destruction of Voldemort? _

And with one sentence running through his head, Harry's guilty conscience started scurrying a mile a minute.

Mom. Dad. Cedric. Sirius. Dumbledore. Neville. Pavarti. Susan. Tonks. The Creevey brothers. Madam Bones. Katie. Oliver. Cho. Moony. Oh the lovable old wolf..

Hermione. She had given Harry so much hope, so much strength… she died during one of the quests for the Hocruxes when… Harry didn't even want to think about the gruesome death she had to endure.

And the Weasley's. they were always family to him. How can he even look at them when he have caused them so much pain, so much grief?

Fred. What will George do now? Mrs. Weasley. The closest person to a mom Harry ever knew.. and Charlie. Dragon loving Charlie.. the fiery passion he had.

And Ron. Harry's best friend. He only died mere minutes ago. But perhaps the love for him is what Harry needed to do in the end..

**FLASHBACK**

"_Crucio!" _

_Harry weakly lifted his head off the ground, where Voldemort had banished him to. He could hear Ron's screams and that was all he needed to stand up, though struggling to, and throw a curse, any curse at Voldemort._

"_Expelliarmus!"_

_It was a weak spell and he knew it. But it was enough to distract Voldemort from Ron. Too many have died because of him. He wasn't about to let his best friend go down either. _

"_You really think, Potter, that with Expelliarmus," Voldemort mocked, "that you could really defeat me? My, my… you're even more pathetic than I thought."_

_As Harry struggled to stand up, Voldemort pointed his wand at Harry and shouted, "CRUCIO!" and laughed cruelly as Harry writhed on the ground, refusing to scream; refusing to have Voldemort ANY satisfaction. _

_After a few moments, Voldemort let up the curse and sneered. "Here's a little early birthday present for you Potter. I hope it bodes well with you. Avada Kedavra!"_

_With those two words, Ronald Weasley, best friend of Harry Potter.. was dead._

_**like my fathers come to pass  
seven years has gone so fast  
wake me up when september ends**_

_Harry felt this surge of power come through. He felt like a brand new person, but better. He could feel, and people around could see, that he was radiating power from all over him; it was coming off of Harry in waves._

_Harry rolled on the ground towards Ron's body, grabbed his wand knowing that with Prior Incantatum, he would need a different wand to destroy Voldemort for a full guarantee of annihilating him and having no backlash. He drew up to his full size, put on his most deathly glare and pointed his wand at Voldemort._

"_See you in hell."_

_Voldemort's eyes widened slightly as he realized that at this exact point, Harry was stronger than he. You couldn't ignore the power Harry held; it was too strong. _

"_Avada KedaVRAAAAAAA!" Harry roared._

_And with that, Voldemort fell to the ground. _

**END FLASHBACK**

Harry knew that it only worked because he had destroyed 6 Hocruxes, with the 7th lying inside Voldemort himself. This weakened Voldemort's body and allowed the killing curse to pass through and destroy him, or else the killing curse wouldn't have done anything but scratch the surface.

Something started to fall on him. Rain. The clouds were a stormy grey but you could see a bit of the sun trying to peak out. A day of death yet some hope that shines out to the world. But hope is nothing to Harry, not when he mourns for the deaths of so many.

_**here comes the rain again  
falling from the stars  
drenched in my pain again  
becoming who we are**_

He felt a presence behind him and automatically turned around with his wand out at someone's throat. It was a reaction he instilled a while back. Harry's eyes narrowed as he took in the appearance of black, billowy robes and a sneer that was never out of place. But Harry also noticed that he had battle scars and wounds, and he was limping on his right leg. But he had made it out alive, just like he had for the last 2 decades.

"What do you want here, Snape? Want to finish me off now that your 'dark lord' is dead? Go ahead. I'd like to see you try."

"Ever the Gryffindor courage and insanely useless pride. When will you ever learn boy? Everything is not about you!" Snape replied with a look of disgust on his face.

"Then what do you want.." Harry said in a low voice.

"People down there need your help in collecting whoever is left alive. We need as many hands as possible. If you can get your selfish prat off your high horse, maybe we can save a few more lives and have less on your… conscience."

"I never ASKED for any of this. Don't even START putting blame on me for their deaths. I already HAVE a guilty conscience and I don't need YOU adding to it." Harry fiercely glared at Snape, then looked down at the grass.

Snape's sneer and glare softened. He knew he shouldn't push the boy. Not when he gave Severus the freedom that he hasn't had for the last God-knows-how-long. He should be thankful that he doesn't have to wonder each day whether that day was his last. Severus also knew he should be grateful that Albus had left a pensieve for Harry with the details explaining why Severus had to kill Dumbledore a year before or else, he would also be a dead man. After that much screaming and shouting and putting blame, they worked civilly together, perhaps becoming friends.

But it was too much of an emotional time right now for anyone to be decent towards each other and Snape used his façade to hide what he was truly feeling. He knew a bit of what Harry felt: the denial of a proper childhood, the consequences of choices that we make. Alas, Severus may have lost his mentor and only friend, but Potter lost his parents, his childhood, and many of his friends, some considered lifelines. He knew Potter has nothing to live towards anymore. That he had done his purpose. Blasted old coot.. if only he knew what mentality he put into his 'saviour' all those years at Hogwarts..

He gently put a hand on Harry's shoulder, knowing that Harry would understand the gesture for what it was. He would give Harry that lifeline, no matter how small or tentative. It was the least he could do for the boy who gave him back his life.

Harry looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He saw a neutral expression on his ex-Professor's face but when you looked closely at the eyes, Harry knew that Severus understood. Maybe not perfectly, maybe not everything… but he understood more than most.

Harry knew that despite appearances, he and Severus were close though quite snippy at each other majority of the time. With Voldemort dead and everyone he loves gone.. Harry has no function in life. Everyone will remember him as the Boy-Who-Lived and not Harry. They'll remember the boy who grew up to be whatever society wanted him to be. Not the person that Hermione or Ron or even Ginny loved. Not even the person that Snape could see. Just like how nobody could see the person behind Snape's mask. Only Dumbledore and Harry himself. He knew that Severus has a lot of pent-up emotions and the longing for something that no one could give him. No one wanted to know the person beneath. But Harry knew and perhaps that is all that mattered; someone else besides Dumbledore understanding.

Snape was giving him an opportunity. A chance to live. A chance to be himself. A chance to be loved. However annoying, angry of a git that Snape can be all the time, Harry was willing to take the chance. The chance to go somewhere, be someone and perhaps, someday live.

That lifeline Snape was giving to him at the moment? He was more than willing to grab on.

Not just for himself. Not just so that he can be saved. He wasn't all about being that selfish Gryffindor.. He takes it…

…..So Severus could be given a lifeline too.

_**as my memory rests  
but never forgets what I lost  
wake me up when september ends**_

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Disclaimer: Song belongs to GREENDAY; WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS.


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